The 3 biggest challenges for real estate franchise partners

Challenge 1: Lack of brand awareness and trust building

The challenge: Real estate transactions are based on trust. A new real estate agency without an established name must first work hard to build this trust. Potential customers prefer to place their properties in experienced hands – reputation and brand awareness often determine which agent gets the job. For independent founders, this means investing a lot of time and capital in self-marketing without the backing of a well-known brand. In an industry where established competitors already enjoy a head start in terms of trust, a lack of name recognition can be a significant obstacle. Especially in the first few months of a new real estate agency, there is often a lack of references and success stories that could convince sceptics. This starting position delays market entry and makes it difficult to compete with the big players.

The BETTERHOMES solution: As a pioneer of the hybrid brokerage model and the largest independent real estate broker in Switzerland, BETTERHOMES brings with it an enormous trust bonus. Franchise partners benefit from day one from the reputation of a strong brand that stands for success, fairness and independence in the DACH region. Over 40,000 successfully brokered properties since its foundation in 2005 underpin the credibility and expertise of BETTERHOMES. This track record relieves new partners of the burden of having to prove their competence first – customers already associate the BETTERHOMES brand with professionalism and reliability. In addition, BETTERHOMES' central marketing department supports regional presence with proven campaigns and consistent branding. This allows franchisees to concentrate on sales while the brand ensures recognition in the background. Last but not least, each partner receives an exclusive regional or national licence, which prevents overlap with other partners. The clear territory protection system ensures that all marketing measures and successes directly benefit the franchisee's own region. This means that trust and awareness do not have to be built up from scratch – BETTERHOMES provides the initial trust, which makes market entry much easier.

Challenge 2: Acquiring customers and properties

The challenge: Without properties, there can be no brokerage – and without interested parties, there can be no deal. Acquiring customers and properties is therefore one of the most time-consuming and difficult tasks for estate agents. Franchise partners are faced with the task of continuously acquiring new sales mandates (e.g. house or flat sellers) while at the same time building up a pool of prospective buyers and tenants. In a highly competitive market, it is a major challenge to always generate enough leads. In addition, many independent estate agents can only advertise their properties on a few channels. This often means that they do not achieve the full reach in terms of potential buyers or tenants. The consequence: longer marketing times and missed opportunities because the right people are not reached at the right time. Overall, without support, it takes an enormous amount of energy to continuously acquire enough orders and customers – a burden that often slows down lone wolves in particular.

The BETTERHOMES solution: BETTERHOMES provides its partners with a digital infrastructure that revolutionises lead generation and marketing. At its heart is the BETTERHOMES Betternet^® broker software, which tracks down potential leads in the background and relieves partners of the burden of acquiring new properties and customer contacts. Intelligent crawlers continuously search relevant online and offline sources for private property listings, so franchise partners are informed about new properties for sale at an early stage, even before they are widely visible on the market. At the same time, BETTERHOMES ensures maximum marketing reach: every listing is automatically published on all major real estate portals with a single click, guaranteeing exceptional visibility. As a result, the system generates thousands of new leads every month, which are made available to partners for sale and rental properties.

Franchise partners also benefit from BETTERHOMES' existing customer base and central database of prospective buyers. Each new property is automatically matched by the system with pre-registered search customers – suitable prospective buyers receive an offer within 48 hours, even before the property is publicly advertised. This intelligent matching function significantly increases the chances of a successful placement, as buyers or tenants are made aware of new properties at an early stage. BETTERHOMES also promotes networking: external tipsters can submit property recommendations via the MyBETTERHOMES^® portal, which provide partners with new property tips. An attractive bonus programme motivates tipsters, generating additional orders almost automatically. For franchisees, this means a continuous pipeline of sales mandates without having to engage in cold calling on their own. As a special ace up its sleeve, BETTERHOMES also offers a unique best price guarantee as part of its service. This guarantee gives owners additional security that they will achieve the best possible sales price. For franchise partners, this is a strong selling point to win over new customers right from the start. In short: BETTERHOMES provides the leads and tools so that partners can focus on their core task – closing deals instead of just acquiring them.

Challenge 3: Efficient processes and continuous development

The challenge: Being a successful real estate franchise partner means wearing many hats at once: you are a sales professional, customer service representative and manager. Without well-established systems and support, even talented agents run the risk of drowning in administrative work. Creating exposés, placing advertisements, coordinating appointments, preparing contracts – all of this takes time that could be spent on customer service and building the business. In addition, the industry requires constant adaptation to new tools, portals and communication channels, especially in the wake of digitalisation. Those who miss the boat here risk losing efficiency and falling behind the competition. A single entrepreneur quickly reaches the limits of their capacity when it comes to optimising all processes and keeping pace with technological developments. Added to this is the factor of further training: intensive training is essential, especially for estate agents who are venturing into entrepreneurship. Without a structured training concept, you have to acquire knowledge yourself, which can lead to mistakes and inconsistencies. Finally, solo entrepreneurs often lack interaction with like-minded people – they are on their own, without sparring partners from whom they can learn or with whom they can celebrate successes. All these factors can hamper growth and lead to frustration if efficiency and progress fail to materialise.

The BETTERHOMES solution: BETTERHOMES meets these challenges with a holistic approach combining technology, training and team culture. First, its proprietary software platform relieves partners of a lot of administrative work: from property listing layout and appointment management to commission settlement, numerous work steps are digitised and automated. Routine tasks are minimised so that more time can be spent on the core business. The system grows scalably with the company without compromising efficiency – so whether you manage 10 or 100 properties, the processes run smoothly in the background. This professional infrastructure even allows you to gradually build up your own team of estate agents, as functions for employee administration and team management are integrated. In parallel with technological support, BETTERHOMES focuses on intensive training and further education for its franchise partners. From day one, every new partner undergoes a structured training programme at the BETTERHOMES Academy to thoroughly learn specialist knowledge, sales techniques and system processes. In addition, personal mentors are available to provide advice and support, especially in the start-up phase. One innovative highlight is BETTERHOMIE, an AI-supported digital sales coach that gives partners individual tips on how to optimise their sales opportunities – essentially a virtual assistant that is available around the clock. But learning doesn't stop once you start at BETTERHOMES: continuous development is actively encouraged, whether through regular training, webinars or the exchange of experiences within the network.

Speaking of networks, BETTERHOMES attaches great importance to a culture of success in which cooperation and mutual support are central. Franchise partners are independent entrepreneurs, but they feel part of a large family. The culture at BETTERHOMES encourages them to share their successes, pass on best practices and support each other in difficult times. Instead of internal competition, there is a spirit of partnership – you are independent, but not alone. Regular meetings, whether regional or international, strengthen team spirit and enable you to see the bigger picture. This creates a motivating atmosphere in which top performance is possible and everyone benefits from the knowledge of the community. At the same time, BETTERHOMES preserves the entrepreneurial freedom of its partners: within a proven framework, each partner can be their own boss. Territorial rights ensure clear responsibilities and protect the investment of each franchisee, while the service headquarters in Zurich is available to provide support at any time without unnecessarily interfering in day-to-day business. This balance of freedom and support promotes entrepreneurial thinking and creates trust on both sides. The result: BETTERHOMES franchise partners can run their businesses efficiently and expand healthily because they have exactly the resources they need to succeed in today's real estate world.